THE IRISH Jurys Doyle hotel group, which is owned by members of the Doyle and Beatty families, is to be renamed the Doyle Collection as part of a €3 million rebranding exercise aimed at refocusing it towards the luxury end of the market.
The new name will act as an overarching identity for the group with each hotel operating under its own brand. "Our company vision is to create a collection of highly individual hotel experiences that will make us proud," chief executive Bill Walshe told The Irish Times.
The rebranding was a condition of the €1.165 billion sale last year of the three-star Jurys Inn chain to a consortium led by Derek Quinlan.
Mr Walshe said the rebranding was part of a major reorganisation which involved spending more than €200 million on refurbishing nine of 11 hotels spread across Ireland, Britain and the US.
Its hotels in Croke Park, Dublin, and in Cork city are the only ones not being renovated. "They are our newest properties and are in great nick," Mr Walshe said.
The group last month closed its Kensington Hotel in London and the Dupont in Washington for renovations. They will reopen in March. The revamp of all nine properties will be completed by the end of next June.
The Doyle Collection has also developed a new online central reservations system and opened a sales office in New York.
Only the Westbury in Dublin will carry a five-star rating; the other hotels will be four star.
Mr Walshe declined to give a likely turnover figure for the Doyle Collection in 2008, but said it would be lower than the previous year due to the renovations.
Mr Walshe said its revenue per available room would be 10-15 per cent down. He described the current environment as "challenging" but added "we are optimistic".
